Did Technology Kidnap My Children??

WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?

by Crystal Bashore

photo by Lisa Eastman

So I’m pretty sure you read the title of my story and did a quick double take in fear, turning unintentionally to search for at least one of your children or grandchildren! But have no fear; this isn’t your rated R kidnapping story. This is a little story I wanted to share with you about the abduction of my children by this evil creation called - TECHNOLOGY!  Never in a million years did I imagine having a conflict with my eldest son telling me, and I quote, "I would rather you put me in jail than take away my Wi-Fi connection." I seriously had an hour long debate over what a horror his life would be like without an internet connection. If we turned off the internet so he couldn’t get on his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and chat with his friends, he would proceed to run away. I had no clue what a horrible mother I was to my children; no one else’s parents punished their children like this. Lucky for me it was winter and it was too cold for him to run away...he will head out in the spring.

Then there’s my oldest daughter.  She would wait until we went to sleep and would log on to her social media accounts on our computer at 2 a.m. so she could “chat” with boys. You’re probably thinking right about now, that’s all you got? Well, let me tell you, NO, I got 2 more of these little wall hugging, Wi-Fi loving, social media crazed junkies!  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my little techno junkies to death, but how do you compete with building your tower to protect your troops on Clash of Clans®, or face timing your 11 year old crush?

photo by Lisa Eastman

Honestly, no joke, my youngest son looks like a vampire because even in summer he refuses to come out of the “cocoon” he creates under his covers so he can surf the internet for his favorite band of rappers! But, unfortunately, this is an all year long “cocoon” that he never really sheds, except to go to the bathroom, shower - not really dry, eat dinner - after being called about 5 times, and go to school - as required, by force!  What truly amazes me is that mysterious “cocoon” he is in for so long every day and the only thing that has happened from this hibernation period, is the mustache he’s developed! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind if my 15 year old needs to use a Bic.

I’m not going to say I’m perfect here. I have used the lazy man technique of texting my kids to bring me up bottles of water or my favorite bag of cinnamon sugar pretzels because I am too cold to get out from under my covers. Ok, I have done that in the summer as well, but it is just so convenient! But this isn’t about me.

I bet you didn’t know that the average teen has about 300 Facebook friends and sends about 3,000 texts a month!  300 Facebook Friends...really? Let’s be honest here, I bet I don’t even know 100 people, how the heck do my kids have 300 friends?! Now the texting I definitely believe. My 11 year old knows all about that popular feature. “I mean like seriously mom why should I talk to you when you’re in the same house as me when I can use this magic app thingy and just type and tell you what I wanna say?” Like duh. I honestly get texts from my daughter who is in the other room asking me if she can have a snack or go to her friend’s house.  Or how about the ever popular Facetiming?  She spent 2 hours Facetiming her best friend yesterday...2 hours!  I can’t stand watching a 5 minute video on You Tube; I couldn’t imagine watching a full length movie on my computer screen.

I can’t sit here and pretend my children are monsters, because they aren’t.  We did implement some rules, though, to limit the amount of time our children can spend on their electronics. And their access to social media, such as passwords on computers, turning in electronics at a certain time each night and password restrictions on apps are included in these rules.  Just remember, technology can be useful, especially when you need to let your kids know to bring you a bottle of water and you’re too lazy to walk down the steps yourself!  

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